Spring Safety Tips

The National Safety Council (NSC) offers a few things to check around your home to keep you and your home safe.

Photo: One of Kaplan Construction's projects in Long Beach, CA. For more photos of this home remodel, click here.

• Test your smoke alarms to make sure they work
• Test your carbon monoxide detectors to make sure they work
• Create a family emergency plan:
  • Prepare emergency kits
  • Have a communications plan
  • Create a getaway plan

For more information on these tips, you can visit the NSC blog here.

Tricks to Ensure Your Halloween is a Treat

Halloween is just around the corner! Here are some tricks from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) for you and the kids to have a fun and safe Halloween!

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All dressed up:

• Plan costumes bright and reflective
• Consider adding reflective tape or striping to costume
• Make sure accessories, such as swords or sticks, are not sharp or too long.
• Use flashlights with fresh batteries
• Teach children how to call 9-1-1

On the trick-or-treat trail:

• Always have a responsible adult accompany young children on their neighborhood rounds
• Only go to homes with a porch light on and never enter a home or cat for a treat
• Carry a cell phone for quick communication
• Never cut across yards or use alleys
• Notify law enforcement authorities of any suspicious activity

For more tricks to ensure your Halloween is a treat, go to the American Academy of Pediatrics website here.

National Preparedness Month - Week 5

Week 5 (September 27-30) of National Preparedness Month focuses leads up to the National PrepareAthon! Day on September 30. One thing each week in NPM had in common, despite being different types of events, is that they all require preparation.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) provides useful resources to use for National PrepareAthon! Day.

You can take part in the PrepareAthon by:

• Learning about your hazards and how to prepare
• Create your account and register your preparedness activities
• Download resources to help you plan and promote your preparedness activities

All this can be done by visiting http://community.fema.gov/

National Preparedness Month - Week 4

Week 4 (September 20-26) of National Preparedness Month focuses on Power Outages. Power Outages are common in California due to our concentrated population. Long beach alone has seen multiple power outages in only the past couple months.

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The California Energy Commission provides tips to prepare for power outages:

• Know where your circuit breakers are located and how to check if a breaker switch is tripped
• Have a number of flashlights with fresh batteries around your home
• Have a battery powered or hand-cranked generator radio
• Post the emergency number for your electric utility
• Have a regular, hard-wired telephone, not just a cordless model, and a fully charged cell phone.
• Have a household first aid kit
• Have a household disaster plan that you and your family can follow if something occurs

For the complete detailed list, go to http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/tips/beprepared.html